Before getting demolished by the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night, the Chicago White Sox put some significant player updates out there. As everyone knows, this is a very injured team trying to stay afloat until they get healthy again.
The first bit of news was the fact that Eloy Jimenez is going to be out for 6-8 weeks after surgery to repair his hamstring. It is the same injury, according to the White Sox, that Lance Lynn sustained in 2022 and Yasmnai Grandal in 2021.
The hope is that he can recover well and be back in that timeline. We know how good his bat is when he is going strong so it is extremely important to have him. The good news is that he isn’t going to be out as long as it initially looked when he was rolling around on the ground.
It might be good news based on what the initial reaction was but it is still going to be tough without him for a while. The White Sox did have better news to share as well. Expect Luis Robert back in the lineup on Wednesday against the Royals. That is outstanding news actually.
A healthy Chicago White Sox team has the potential to do some really good things.
Estimated recovery time for Jiménez remains 6-8 weeks.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 26, 2022
Yoan Moncada is hoping to begin his rehab assignment in AAA Charlotte this weekend. That will provide a big boost to their lineup as well. Joe Kelly is expected to play in AAA soon as well before making his long-awaited White Sox debut.
Hahn expects Luis Robert to play tomorrow. With a night/day split today and tomorrow, he was only going to play one or the other.
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) April 26, 2022
Hahn: "Joe Kelly has made a couple of outings in Arizona, which have gone well at the extended level. He’s going to make at least one more down there in Arizona and then he too could potentially join Charlotte this weekend for a rehabilitation assignment as well."
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) April 26, 2022
The reason that Liam Hendriks looked uncomfortable on Sunday was because of the fact that he had some back spasms. He should be considered day to day as he won’t be out for very long. However, that makes the management look even worse for allowing him to pitch in that game.
The last name that had an update was Johnny Cueto. he is going to pitch for Charlotte in AAA on Thursday. He is still to be considered (according to Rick Hahn) early in the buildup process. It is going to be interesting to see how he does when he returns to Major League Baseball.
Tony La Russa said Liam Hendriks’ back spasms occurred between 9th and 10th inning Sunday, but that Hendriks said it didn’t affect him on the mound. Hendriks' availability for tonight is dependent on how he feels getting loose.
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) April 26, 2022
Baseball is a team game so the rest of the team needs to pick it up but adding some of these players to the mix is really going to help them improve. These updates are mostly a step in the right direction which is good news. When this team is healthy, they could be elite once again.